I was reading this book when Aidan was born, and could not wait to finish it.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.
With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
(Book summaries from Amazon)
I have yet to read a single book by Kristin Hannah that I haven’t loved. This one was no exception. In fact, I think it was my most favorite yet. She has such a wonderful way of developing characters, weaving their stories together, and provide both great descriptions of places and feelings and action. The Nightingale was recently picked as one of Reese Witherspoon’s book club books. Generally, I tend to like her picks, so I thought it was probably time to pick this one up. This one is likely to make it into my top books of the year. It was simply AWESOME.
I lightened life up a bit by finishing off May reading…
As any new parent knows, there is an abundance of often-conflicting advice hurled at you from doctors, family, friends, and the internet. From the earliest days, parents get the message that they must make certain choices around feeding, sleep, and schedule or all will be lost. There’s a rule – or three – for everything. But the benefits of these choices can be overstated, and the trade-offs can be profound. How do you make your own best decision?
Armed with the data, Oster finds that the conventional wisdom doesn’t always hold up. She debunks myths around breastfeeding (not a panacea), sleep training (not so bad!), potty training (wait until they’re ready or possibly bribe with M&Ms), language acquisition (early talkers aren’t necessarily geniuses), and many other topics. She also shows parents how to think through freighted questions like if and how to go back to work, how to think about toddler discipline, and how to have a relationship and parent at the same time.
Economics is the science of decision-making, and Cribsheet is a thinking-parent’s guide to the chaos and frequent misinformation of the early years. Emily Oster is a trained expert – and mom of two – who can empower us to make better, less fraught decisions – and stay sane in the years before preschool.
I can’t remember why I decided to read this book. I was probably intrigued by the data driven part of it. (I’m still an accountant at heart, after all.) I like an examination of the facts. But wow, this book fell flat for me. I could see some value in it if I hadn’t already gone through the baby and toddler phase now life with two children already and working my way through a third newborn phase, but for someone who is well entrenched in raising a rising kindergartener, preschooler, and baby, it was mostly irrelevant. The choices that are discussed are things that you have to decide when at the hospital, choosing a daycare situation for your child, how to feed your baby. And…we’ve already been there. Done that. And I had already examined much of the same “studies” and reasoning that she covers. So, it wasn’t really for me.
My 2023 Books:
I like most any book by Kristin Hannah too and I remember The Nightingale as being one of my favorites as well– right up there with Winter Garden
I need to add Winter Garden to me reading list!
Kristin Hannah is a fav of mine, too. Interesting how she crosses the generations.
She’s so good!